Safety by Objectives - Assignment Example

Ans Setting objectives is the core activity that every business needs to do before starting any of their business operations. An objective is a specific stride, a landmark, which enables you to accomplish a purpose. Setting objectives involves a nonstop process of research and decision-making. Knowledge of yourself and your sector is a vital starting point in setting objectives. Setting right objectives is critical for effective performance management. Such objectives as elevated profits, shareholder value, and customer satisfaction may be commendable, but they don't tell managers what to do. They fail to specify priorities and focus. (Daniel Petersen, 1995) Such objectives don't map the trip ahead - the finding of better worth and solutions for the client. The objectives must be: Focused on a result, not an activity Steady Definite Measurable Related to time Achievable Objectives set out what the business is trying to attain. Objectives can be set at two levels. These levels are Corporate and Functional level. At Corporate level the objectives concern the business or organization as a whole. Examples of corporate objectives might include: We aim for a return on investment of at least a certain percentage We plan to get an operating profit of over 15 million on sales of at least 110 million. We aim to increase income per share by at least a certain percentage every year for the predictable future Examples of functional marketing objectives might include: We aim to construct customer record of at least 370,000 households within the next 2 years We aim to achieve a market share of a certain percentage We aim to achieve customer alertness of our brand in our target markets. There are several ways in which the objectives set by an organization can be communicated across effectively. The importance of communicating objectives is equal to the importance of setting them. As it's useless to set objectives if they are not properly communicated to the workers. The objectives of an organization shape its future deals and planning. The objectives of a company also help them in attracting potential customers. It is a vital task to communicate the objectives of the organization and these are the following ways that can be adopted to do so. By distributing booklets By putting up the objectives on the notice boards. By revising the objectives daily By making sure every employee is aware of the objectives By circulating pamphlets By distributing booklets it is meant that a written form of organization objectives is available to all the workers. The reason behind it to make sure that every employee is clearly aware of all the objectives, but there is a draw back as how many people are reading the booklet cannot be checked. By putting up the objectives on the notice board makes sure that everyone is seeing them daily but it still not helps in confirming that everyone has read them. (Frank Corrado, 1994). Another effective method can be that the team leader or the departmental head makes sure that he revises the objectives set by the organization daily and is ready to help explain them if someone is having a problem understanding them. Ans. 2 An organization needs to make sure that every single of their employee or worker is aware of the objectives that have been set by the organization. One might doubt why we need to set up objectives in the first place, why not let the company or a particular activity just run effortlessly into the future and see where it gets. (Daniel Petersen, 1995) That would be the case only if we really do not care whether the activity in discussion will be doing well or not: but then, to use a popular saying, "if something deserves to be performed, then it deserves to be performed well". In other words, if we don't care for the outcome, we should not proceed with the act at all. Awareness of objectives among the workers or employees is important, for several reasons: It gives a mark to aim to, therefore all actions and hard work will be focused on attaining the objective instead of being unproductively used. Gives participants a sense of direction, a quick look of where they're going to. Motivates the leaders and their teams, since it is quite the tradition of establishing some sort of return once the team effectively finished a project. Offers the support in evaluating the success of an action or project. Helps in evaluating the performances The importance of awareness of an organization's objectives among the workers and employees helps in evaluating the performance of the organization and the employees both. Meaning that an employee can compare his or her own performance with the objectives and check how successful and loyal he has been with his work. (Institute of Leadership & Management, 2007). Another reason that highlights the importance of making the employees aware of the objectives set by the organization is to help them direct their talent and abilities in the right order. An organization would never want to waste its human resources due to lack of knowledge to the employees and workers, that what is needed from them. Hence it is essential for the organization to make sure that all the employees and workers are completely aware of the objectives. This can only be done if the objectives are clearly communicated across the organization. Ans. 3 Well there is famous saying that by adding million of single drops of water an ocean is made up. The same way is for a business, that is a small business' if started can flourish into huge ones and in the same way if people set their own objectives and goals and make sure they meet them organizations can meet their objectives and goals. Well management is a concept that reflects through every aspect of a person's life. A person can be managing his family budget, his own daily routine or managing certain tasks. In the same way a person can set his own objectives in order to be successful in attaining what he desires. To do well, organizations need to be able to synchronize the work of individual employees and work units, so that each person is pulling in the same direction. Setting up objectives for individuals offer the basis to allow this kind of harmonization to occur. The process of setting up objectives for individuals provides the apparatus for translating the objectives of the organization as a whole into smaller chunks that are then assigned or delegated to individual employees. (Ari Kiev, 2005). That's necessary because organizations accomplish their overall objectives to the degree that each employee does his or her part in completing the right job responsibilities in efficient ways. Well there are several ways in which setting up objectives by an individual can help the organization as a whole. First, most managers want employees to do their jobs with a smallest amount of direct supervision. Employees who require continuous guidance and direction eat up a lot of managerial time. Where do individual objectives fit When an employee knows what he or she needs to get done and what is expected, it's a lot easier for that employee to work without constant supervision. The result The employees know what they must do, how well they must do it, and why they are doing it. That means there's much less need for continuing direction. Also, clear performance goals allow managers to allow their staff to make decisions relevant to their work without having to ask the manager on every little question. Second, clear objectives permit employees to observe their own advancement all year 'round and correct their efforts as needed. If employees know what they need to carry out, they can look at their results as they go and make out barriers to achieving those objectives. (Gary Ryan Blair, 2000). Once again, this ability to self-monitor and self-correct means less supervisory time is needed to manage and guide employees. Third, the performance evaluation/review becomes much easier, causes far less concern, and goes much faster when there are clear objectives. In fact, the better the objectives, the clearer they are and the more computable they are, the less managers and employees have to risk into the area of unclear opinions about performance during the assessment process. Combine this with the fact that objectives allow employees to observe their efforts and the outcome throughout the year and an organization gets a judgment process that is much more useful and yields no surprises for the worker. Finally, let's consider the worth of individual objectives in serving to proactively recognize barriers to performance. It does little good to spot poor performance after the fact or after it has affected the organization. Clear objectives make it much easier to keep an eye on the performance throughout the year and grab situations where performance may be going off route. (Ari Kiev, 2005). Then what follows is an analytic process in which employee and manager can figure out what might be causing performance deficits and take action. In other words, the objectives give out the foundation for an "early warning system," because they are explicit enough to allow employee and manager to measure growth all year long. Ans. 4 It's a universal fact that organized and managed work always pays off. Hence denying the fact that following objectives does not provide benefit is useless. In any organization setting up organization and individual objectives helps in running the business smoothly. Individual objectives are based on the objectives of organization hence it is necessary to devise organization objectives before considering individual objectives. The secret of success-for organizations, managers, and employees-is to put more stress on making sure every employee and every manager knows what he or she needs to achieve in the present and future. When an employee understands what he or she needs to do to do well, it's much easier to contribute. It's also much easier for managers to do their jobs, to get better productivity, and to manage proactively, rather than have to spend time stamping out small fires after the fact. Clear purpose helps everyone succeed and, this helps in getting good results in our organization. Most employees desire and require knowing four things about their work so they can contribute and feel relaxed about where they are in the organization: What do I need to accomplish Why am I doing what I'm doing How well must I do it How am I doing Setting objectives and then meeting them is an essential task at our organization. The primary reason for doing so is the benefits we get by carrying out this activity. Setting objectives and then making sure the employees meet them not only enhances the performance of the whole organization it also helps in motivating the workers. Objectives help define our organization, give direction and avoid chaos. Objectives help inspire members by communicating what the organization is looking for as well as providing a foundation for recognizing accomplishments and successes. Objectives help members and leaders in our organization become aware of problems in a timely fashion, which in turn leads to healthy solutions. (Bernard W. Taylor, 2006). Objectives help our organization plan ahead and be prepared. All this returns in profits for our organization and increases the database of our customers, as clients tend to be attracted towards organizations that are achieving their objectives successfully. Setting up objectives is not as easy as saying it a lot of analyzing and critical thinking is required another problem is setting wrong goals and avoiding it is another problem. At out organization it is made sure that objectives that are being set are towards the right direction. A highly professional approach is used to accomplishing these tasks. Every prospect is studied and checked for errors and mistakes. Objectives help our organization by making sure that employees are directed as discussed earlier which in turn results in a good friendly atmosphere in the organization. These were some ways in which setting objectives has helped our organization to yield good results and I am sure this can help any organization. Though it's doubtful that an organization can achieve success and good results without setting up objectives. Bibliography Daniel Petersen. (December 29, 1995). Safety by Objectives: What Gets Measured and Rewarded Gets Done. Wiley; 2nd edition. Frank Corrado. (March 30, 1994). Crisp: Communicating with Employees: Improving Organizational Communication. Crisp Learning. Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). (May 28, 2007). Achieving Objectives Through Time Management Super Series. Pergamon Flexible Learning; 5 edition. Ari Kiev. (May 18, 2005). Hedge Fund Masters: How Top Hedge Fund Traders Set Goals, Overcome Barriers, and Achieve Peak Performance. Wiley. Gary Ryan Blair. (June 8, 2000). Goal Setting 101 : How to Set and Achieve a Goal!. Blair Pub House. Bernard W. Taylor. (February 1, 2006). Introduction to Management Science. Prentice Hall; 9th edition. Read More